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from the sometimes-I-think-we-are-all-mad dept.
In the next step of the Darth Vader movement in Ukraine, and coming just before the new Star Wars movie is out, a statue of Lenin was replaced with a statue of Darth Vader.
Ukrainians have transformed a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin into one of Darth Vader in the city of Odessa. The absurd but highly-symbolic move comes just before the release of the latest "Star Wars" movie.
The founder of the former communist state, the Soviet Union, has long been despised by many Ukrainians. In April, the government passed a law, ordering all symbols of the Soviet era to be removed from the country.
"After the anti-communism law was adopted earlier this year, we had to decide what to do with the monument [of Lenin]," Oleksandr Milov, the sculptor of the new statue, told the AFP news agency. A 'real life' Vader, one of several in Ukraine, was on hand to check that the new statue was 'fully operational'
"Honestly, I did not like the idea of destroying it, so we decided on a more flexible solution," he said, adding that they were planning to install a Wi-fi router on the statue's head so that he can "communicate with the other Siths."
(Score: 2, Informative) by gnuman on Sunday October 25 2015, @04:51PM
Well they are both servants of the evil empire.
I wouldn't put Lenin in same league as fictional Darth Vadar. Stalin, on the other hand, would be much better candidate to represent evil empire. Lenin fought all his life to overthrow absolute monarchy and aristocracy in Russia. I wouldn't say he was any more evil than any other political figures of that time. Stalin, Hitler and the aristocracy that started World War I are far "better" representation of evil in Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 25 2015, @05:02PM
Remember this is in ukraine. Not the entire world, europe or even russia at large. Within Ukraine he was a big villain - especially for his "decossackisation" of the country.
Replacing his statue in ukraine with darth vader is entirely appropriate given the local history. Context, it matters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 25 2015, @06:07PM
good post but ITYM WW2 (not WW1)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by schad on Sunday October 25 2015, @06:32PM
I would [wikipedia.org]. Lenin was not a nice guy. He was willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to achieve his goal. And that's pretty much exactly what he did. Yes, Stalin killed more people. Yes, Stalin cared only about his personal ambition rather than any sort of selfless desire to improve the lot of Russian peasants. But all the tools Stalin used to commit his atrocities were created -- and used; extensively and with equal ruthlessness -- by Lenin.
If the strongest defense you can make is that he wasn't as bad as Hitler or Stalin, well...
(Score: 2) by gnuman on Monday October 26 2015, @01:05AM
The purpose of Red Terror was to root out opposition at the time of a Russian Civil War. And Red Terror-like events are not unique in Russian history of that period (not talking about Stalinist purges later on)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_1905 [wikipedia.org]
Tsar Nicolas put down 1905 revolution with ruthless force, just like his predecessors did. And he learned nothing just to keep the people under his heel. Well, maybe he added a veneer of caring. And earlier, Tsar Nicolas I did similar things.
If the strongest defense you can make is that he wasn't as bad as Hitler or Stalin, well...
You can't compare him to either. Maybe to China's Mao Zedong. Lenin's legacy is an example of "road to hell is paved with good intentions". We'll never really know how Lenin would have turned out anyway since he became disabled almost immediately after the Russian civil war (strokes). Let's just say that Lenin's Revolution probably saved a few Russian lives being thrown into the WWI grinder.
Now, Stalin, or especially Hitler, I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by schad on Monday October 26 2015, @02:39AM
You're right. Rebellions have been put down ruthlessly not just by tsars but also by kings and emperors all over the world. The fact that it's sadly commonplace throughout human history doesn't make it acceptable, nor does it exculpate those responsible. If the tsars were monsters for their brutal oppression, then so too was Lenin. I don't really care if he believed the ends justified the means. They didn't. They almost never do. And you should be deeply suspicious of anyone who tells you otherwise.
Not all zealots are religious. But their actions once they get into a position of power tend to be remarkably similar, no matter the starting point.
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Sunday October 25 2015, @07:30PM
(Score: 4, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday October 25 2015, @09:25PM
An interesting fact about Star Wars was that George Lucas was influenced by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl [wikipedia.org] in a lot of his scenes, such as this one. [squarespace.com]
She made extensive use of wide-angle distance shots to capture number and organization of people. Other examples are this [nocookie.net] and this [moviepilot.com] scene in Star Wars, both of which are obviously influenced by this style of scene in Riefenstahl's work. [moma.org]
Oh, and Riefenstahl was hot, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @12:05AM
Not influenced, deliberatively evocative. He called them stormtroopers for fuck's sake.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday October 26 2015, @12:30AM
The point of my post was to put a little more context behind the obvious.
Behind Hugo Boss' awesome uniform design, [pinimg.com] of course.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @12:34AM
Your posting history and your word choice in this case meant you got no slack. You've earned that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @01:29AM
He called them stormtroopers for fuck's sake.
And the time when I became interested in history and understood the real events, I dropped Star Wars like a bad habit. All those Star Wars games I played made me an accessory in spreading lies. Never again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2015, @01:47AM
Leni Riefenstahl was a film-maker, not a propagandist*. You need to see the documentary about her life and career: The wonderful, horrible life of Leni Reifenstahl [wikipedia.org]
And while you are at it, watch Olympia (Part 1 and 2). It will make you an instant fan of hers. And if you are still not convinced, watch "Triumph of Will".
Most of today's producers are not even 0.001% of what Leni Riefenstahl was. And these so-called producers keep stealing her ideas even today.
*Being a propagandist is not automatically a bad thing. And the National Socialists never lied (even in their propaganda) anyway.